Highlights from the Fall Arts Guide

Ken Jennings

Wednesday, Sept. 27

Books this week

Talks this week

Anyone who watched Ken Jennings as a contestant on Jeopardy! near the beginning of his unprecedented streak of 75 consecutive victories probably thought he had the dude pegged: quiz-bowl geek who was good with a buzzer, could unblinkingly deliver surname-only replies, and would have loved to rattle off several other related facts along with the answer, given the chance. It certainly didn’t help that, in addition to being a quiz-bowl geek, Jennings was also a blond, blue-eyed, Mormon, Utahan, BYU-grad, computer-programming trivia nerd. But dammit, the dork can write. Brainiac: Adventures in the Curious, Competitive, Compulsive World of Trivia Buffs could easily have been a quick-and-dirty cash-in memoir—you know, how he got beat up in school and all that. Instead, his editor convinced him to write a real book—an informative, breezy, damn funny book—about the many manifestations of trivia obsession in American culture, running down both the obvious (Trivial Pursuit, the ’50 quiz-show scandals) and the more obscure (a yearly 54-hour trivia contest broadcast by a Stevens Point, Wis., college radio station). But Jennings is most likable when he goes deep into his stint on America’s favorite quiz show, from his fairly rigorous preparation to his eventual appearances in Jeopardy! slash fiction. And there’s this thought on his first, less-than-intimate encounter with Alex Trebek: “I was sort of hoping he’d show up backstage, give us all a fist bump and a hearty ‘’Sup, playaz?’” Jennings discusses and signs copies of his work Wednesday, Sept. 27, at 7 p.m. at Olsson’s Books & Records, 2111 Wilson Blvd., Arlington. Free. (703) 525-4227. (Mike DeBonis)